As AT&T continues to stonewall CWA members at AT&T Midwest and AT&T Legacy T at the bargaining table, AT&T workers kicked off a multi-state "Broken Promises Tour" this week calling attention to the effects of ongoing job losses and offshoring in communities across the Midwest.

The tour began with a press event in Detroit where AT&T workers were joined by local labor leaders to call out AT&T for continuing to cut U.S. jobs in the wake of the GOP tax bill, then made its way through an itinerary including Toledo, Columbus, Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Kansas City. The workers will wrap up their trip on Saturday in Dallas, home to AT&T's headquarters, where they will deliver thousands of petition signatures demanding that AT&T make good on its promises to American workers.

Before the Republican tax plan passed, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson pledged that if the tax cut passed, the company would spend at least $1 billion to create "7,000 good jobs for the middle class." Instead, despite $20 billion in tax savings, AT&T has eliminated more than 7,000 jobs since January 2018, when the tax cuts took effect. The company has made $10 billion in profits in the first half of this year, and has used that money on stock buybacks to enrich its wealthy stockholders instead of investing in its workers.

At each stop, the workers have been joining with former AT&T employees whose jobs were eliminated and elected officials and community leaders who are taking a stand against AT&T's outsourcing and offshoring. They've also visited the district offices of members of Congress, sharing information about AT&T's job cuts and urging them to hold AT&T accountable. Along the way, workers have been gathering signatures on a petition urging the company to invest in jobs here in the U.S.

"I worked at AT&T for 15 years, and I loved my job," said Kelly Clay, who was laid off in 2017, along with many of her coworkers. "It's getting harder and harder to find good jobs. Many of us are struggling to make ends meet. AT&T makes big promises to American workers. But in places like Kansas City, they've broken those promises time and again."

"Big corporations like AT&T and those running for office need to know that working people in America won't be forgotten," said Jeremy Bain, who has worked at AT&T's call center in Saginaw, Mich., for 14 years. "Our families and communities have been left behind by companies like AT&T that line their pockets offshoring U.S. jobs and collecting big tax breaks. It's time for AT&T to invest in the workers and communities that have made the company successful."

"In 2011, AT&T shuttered the call center I worked at for 11 years, despite our area manager's assurance that there was plenty of work to keep the center open," said Laheelah Hunter, who has worked at AT&T for almost 19 years. "I'm joining the Broken Promises Tour to hold AT&T accountable. I don't want to continue to lose colleagues to layoffs or outsourcing from a multibillion dollar company that owes its success to its workers."

CWA has also launched radio ads across the Midwest and in Dallas highlighting how AT&T used its tax break to enrich executives rather than create jobs and raise wages for U.S. workers.

Workers have been livestreaming their progress at each stop and have attracted local news attention to AT&T's failure to live up to its promise and support good jobs in communities that it serves. Check out the highlights at ATTBrokenpromises.org.